"I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." George MacDonald

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When Johnny got home, the phone rang and it was Mr. Christopherson on the phone.

“Johnny, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine Mr. Christopherson, how are you? Is there something that I can do for you?” asked Johnny.

“There sure is, Johnny. I have a favor to ask of you.”

Johnny responded, “Sure Mr. Christopherson, what is it?”

The voice on the telephone continued, “Could you help me act out a Bible story tomorrow? We are going to do the story of the Unforgiving Servant and I need a couple of you kids to help me with it. Would you be willing to do that for me?”

“Great Johnny, thank you. Take some time to read the story tonight before you go to bed so you will know it for tomorrow. You can find it in Matthew chapter 18, verses 23 through 34. Can you do that for me?” asked Mr. Christopherson.

“Absolutely, I wrote the reference down and I will read the story through a couple of times tonight. Thanks for asking me to help, Mr. Christopherson!” he said.

“You bet, Johnny. I knew that I could count on you. I’ll see you in the morning.” Mr. Christopherson said.

“Yes sir, Mr. Christopherson. Goodnight.” Johnny hung the phone and then wondered what part he was going to play.

After dinner, Johnny went to his room so that he could read the story that Mr. Christopherson asked him to read. He picked up his Bible and read it through three times, wondering which part he was going to play. He hoped that it was not going to be that unforgiving servant.

That evening while Johnny was getting ready for bed, his thoughts bounced back and forth between the bicycle in the window at Anderson’s Hardware, Uncle Klaus saying that he wanted to help Johnny get the money to buy the bike and the Bible story that he had read.

By the time that he said his bedtime prayers and laid down to go to sleep, the bike and Uncle Klaus and the Bible story were running into each other in his head, each demanding his attention…the next thing he knew was someone was shaking him.

“Jonathon! Jonathon! Wake up; the king wants to see you. He wants to see you NOW!”

Johnny rolled over away from the voice and said, “I don’t care who it is, I just got to sleep and want to go back to sleep. Whoever it is can wait until morning.”

The shaking kept on and the voice was even more excitedly trying to get his attention,

“Jonathan it is the KING, you have to get up and go to see him immediately or he will throw you into prison.”

Johnny was finally starting to wake up and understand what was being said. He rolled over to the edge of the bed, sat up and slowly opened his eyes. What he saw shocked and confused him. Instead of his neat and spacious bedroom with modern furniture, he saw a rough stone floor, with rough wooden furniture.

The person trying to wake him up looked a lot like Jimmy Barski, but he had a really funny haircut and was wearing some kind of dress and sandals.

He was too shocked at first to say anything, but then Johnny tried to speak again and was able to say, “Who are you and where am I?”

“Oh Jonathan, you are always a jester, but now is not the time for His Majesty the King has called for all of his servants that he has loaned money to. He loaned you enough to buy that chariot that you are always racing around in. I am guessing that he wants to know when he is going to get paid back.”

Johnny was still trying to get his bearings and was wondering what Jimmy Barski was doing in his dream. He was sure that this was a dream. Maybe he shouldn’t have had that extra ice cream just before going to bed.

“Who are you,” Johnny asked. “Who am I? Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“Who am I? Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“Um, no,” Johnny said scratching his head.

“I am your brother James. Now, PLEASE, get up and go to the king. He is not a patient man.”

Johnny was beginning to realize that he was going to have to go along with Jimmy –or- James as he was calling himself. He reached down for his shoes and realized that all he had was a pair of leather sandals and he was wearing the same type of dress that Jimmy was. Not wanting to make any more of a fuss, he slipped his feet into the sandals and secured the straps.

Then he stood up and said, “I am feeling none too well, please lead me, brother.”

Johnny, breathing heavily, begins pumping his pedals furiously in an effort to put more distance between himself and that final, lone rider closest to him.

He leans and muscles the bike around several large trees, peddles frantically up a steep hill and then around a huge rock.

Surging to the top of the final hill, with the other rider hopelessly behind him, he surveys the final part of the course.

“And here he comes, Johnny Peterson over the last hill and is racing like a pro down the hill to the finish line. His closest competitor is almost a minute behind him. What a race Peterson has ridden today. He’s on track to set the all time course record for the junior division, folks!

Look at him take those moguls.

His arms look like he’s running a jackhammer.

He looks like he was born on that bike.

Here he comes to the finish line!”

Johnny grips the handlebars and pumps the pedals for the final push across the finish line and then, just as he crosses the line, straightens up and raises his hands in victory, punching the air.

“Look at him lifting his arms up in victory! Wow, what a day for…”

Crash! Crunch!

“Oops! I just knocked over that new breakfast cereal display with my broom handle. Wow, that made a lot of noise! I’d better get it picked up pronto…” said Johnny as starting picking of boxes of Wheatios with Razzleberries and setting up the display again.

By three o’clock that Saturday afternoon, Johnny was finishing sweeping the store for his Uncle Klaus. He picked up the dustpan full of dirt, carried it and the broom to the back room where the garbage can was. It was quitting time, so he took off his apron and hung it up on the hook that was marked with his name, grabbed his coat and hat from the hook next to it and walked through the wide swinging door that led back into the front of the store. His uncle was helping a customer at the meat counter so he looked for his Aunt Harriet so that he could ask if there was anything else that needed to be done before he left for the day.

“Aunt Harriet, I’ve finished the sweeping, and it’s three o’clock, is it alright if I go home now?”

Aunt Harriet was straightening up the canned soups and saw Johnny walking toward her with his coat and hat in hand. “You sure can Johnny, thanks ever so much for all the work that you did today on the produce displays. They look marvelous!” she said, smiling broadly at him.

“Wow, thanks. It was actually a lot of fun to see how neat I could get them especially the apples. I got them all turned just right and tried to get all the varieties evened up so that they all look the same.”

“Well, you did an excellent job; let’s go find your uncle so that he can pay you for this week’s work. I know that you are saving up for that bicycle in the window of Anderson’s Hardware store. Mr. Anderson tells me that you stop by to look at it nearly every day!” she laughed. Johnny felt a little embarrassed by her laugh and began focusing on his shoelaces and shuffled his feet around on the floor for a second and then followed her as she walked over toward the cash register.

Uncle Klaus was just finishing up with the customer that he had been helping with a meat order and smiled as he saw the two of them coming toward him.

He looked up at the clock on the back wall and said “Let’s see, its three o’clock on Saturday so that must mean that our best helper Johnny is ready to be paid and go home for the day. Am I right, Harriet?”

“That’s right, my dear, do you have his check in the cash drawer?” she asked cheerfully.

“Yah, yah, you bet I do, and I want to thank you, Johnny, for all of your hard work this week. You are a very good worker. We put a little bonus in your check this week. We want to help you get that bicycle you have been saving for.” he said with a little laugh in his voice smiling his great big smile.

Uncle Klaus almost always had a smile on his great big kind face.

“Wow, thanks a lot!” Johnny thanked his aunt and uncle and headed home…by way of Anderson’s Hardware store. He stopped for just a few minutes to look at the bicycle of his dreams and then headed on home.

The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” “I don’t know!” Cain yelled at the sky. “Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?” But the LORD said, “What have you done? Listen – your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! You are hereby banished from the ground you have defiled with your brother’s blood. No longer will it yield abundant crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless fugitive on the earth, constantly wandering from place to place.”

Cain replied to the LORD, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from my land and from your presence; you have made me a wandering fugitive. All who see me will try to kill me!” The LORD replied, “They will not kill you, for I will give seven times your punishment to anyone who does.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him.

So, Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Adam had gone looking for his younger son to try to get the boys to stop their feud. He had arrived too late to see what had happened but, hidden in some bushes, he had overheard all that had been said between Cain and the Lord and was heartbroken as he watched his oldest son walk slowly off to the east. He wanted to run after him and stop him, to hold him and comfort him. He also wanted to grab him by the shoulders and demand some reason for what he had done. But, for some reason, he could not do anything but stand and watch. He knew all too well the reasons why. He was feeling intense emotional pain. He was also very angry at the same time. He had never experienced so much conflicted emotion all at once. Slowly, he turned and walked toward the place where his other son lay covered by that blood stained ground. He knelt at the side of that crude grave, the first one ever dug for a man and sobbing, he uncovered his second born son, lifted him up in his arms and headed toward the river. Toward the cool, shady grove near the river where the family gathered for worship time.

Eve was already headed the same direction. She had been on a similar mission to Adam’s, but she was looking for oldest son, the pride of her life. When she could not find him on the rock that she knew he always went to when he wanted to be alone, she headed toward Abel’s field hoping that the two boys had already been able to sort out their differences. Coming up to the top of a hill a short distance from the river, she saw Adam carrying something, walking toward their worship place. She could not quite make it out.

Eve headed toward Adam intending to ask him if he had seen either of the boys. She lost sight of him as she went down the other side of the hill. She found herself thinking about what she might tell Cain when she found him. She might tell him that he needed to be more patient with his younger brother. Perhaps that they ought to come and sit together as a family to try to sort things out. She was sure that they would, they always had, so far…

Adam saw his wife and altered his direction to meet her. She had disappeared when she went down the last hill but their eyes met as they both came up the same one together.

Her eyes dropped to see what Adam was carrying. She stopped suddenly. She felt as though her heart had jumped right through her chest. He was carrying Abel. Abel was covered with dirt and it looked like blood was all over his head. Adam’s eyes were wet and swollen and he was sobbing almost uncontrollably.

She tried to speak, to ask what had happened, where was Cain…she couldn’t speak for what seemed like an eternity. Adam, too, tried to speak and could not at first but , finally was able to tell Eve the story. Slowly as Adam did that through his sobs and tears, they both clutched Abel’s body and both slowly fell to their knees, crying.

Now Eve’s emotions were running wild. She felt herself becoming angry, very angry. She was angry at Adam, angry at God, angry at Abel, angry at Cain and then angry at herself. Finally, as she collapsed, exhausted on the ground clasping both her husband and her dead son, she realized that this was all a result of the sin that she and Adam had committed in the Garden and how it would follow them throughout their lives. She yearned for forgiveness and remembered the promise that the Lord gave to send a redeemer.

Genesis 3:15: “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Adam and Eve struggled to their feet while still clutching Abel’s lifeless body. Together they went to the worship spot and reburied him. They sat weeping quietly together holding hands until the sun began to set. Then they got up and walked back slowly toward their home almost as lonely as they were when they left the garden, stopping occasionally to look back as if expecting the boys to come running after them as they had so many times before.

Now, many things happened after this. Cain did settle in the land to the east. Eventually he married and had his own children. Adam and Eve? The Bible tells us that: “Adam slept with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, the one Cain killed. When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the LORD.

Cain had already arrived and sat staring into the whirling pools of the shallow water near the rock. His face was contorted with anger as he stared into the water. His heart was so heavy that he thought that it was going to fall out of his chest into the river. He had never felt so depressed or oppressed before in his life. Just as he was considering what to do next, he heard a voice. A voice he had never heard before, but he had no doubt about whose it was.

“Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked him. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.”

Cain stood staring at the sky for what seemed forever and then collapsed on the rock in a heap. He knew the Lord was right. But, there was something in him that would not accept it, that the wrong way against it. Pride had entered into his heart and would not relinquish it. Even for the Lord.

“Cain! Cain?” Abel shouted as he reached the spot where the two boys had spent so much time in their younger years.

When Cain heard that, he jumped up and turned quickly in the direction of his brother’s voice. “What? Haven’t you had enough of being the perfect one? Did you have to track me down to gloat?”

“That’s not why I came. I was worried about you. I had never seen you run from anything before in your life. I just came to see if you were all right, that’s all.” Abel stood next to his brother and tried to put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” Cain shouted as he shoved Abel away. “I don’t want your sympathy or your sniveling superior attitude.” He began stepping toward his brother and pushing him violently away back toward the edge of the rock away from the river. Then he suddenly stopped and sat down on the rock.

Once he had regained his balance, Abel stood and stared at his brother for a few long moments and then said, “What is it Cain? We used to tell each other everything. We used to be best friends. But, the last couple of years…it…it seems like I don’t even know you anymore! What happened? Is it something that I have done? If it is, tell me. Let’s work it out. You’re my brother and I love you!”

Cain looked up at his brother with a thoughtful look on his face. He started to speak, “I…I…”, but nothing would come out. Then a thought occurred to him and Abel could see that something flashed across Cain’s face. Something that contorted it for just a moment into something horrible and disfigured. Then Cain’s face softened and looked like his brother again. The brother that he loved.

Then Cain said, “You’re right Abel, let’s talk about it and work it out. You know that section of the lower field that you brought your sheep across? Let’s walk over there and see if we can’t figure out a path for you to use regularly.” He stood up walked toward his brother, stretched out his arm and put it around Abel’s shoulder. They began walking toward the lower field together talking and laughing like the old days.

Once they reached their destination, something seemed to change in Cain. He got quiet suddenly. He stepped away from and behind his brother. He stooped as if to pick up a clod of soil to examine it, but picked up a rock instead. He then swung that rock in the direction of Abel’s head. The rock collided with Abel’s head and Abel slumped to the ground in a heap. Blood began to seep into the ground.

Cain stood over his brother’s body. Then he quickly dug a shallow grave with his hand out of the soft earth. He quickly buried his brother and then began to wander back in the direction of the river. He didn’t know where else to go. He walked slowly at first and then he began to run. Finally, he ran as fast as he could until he reached the rock again.

His chest was heaving and his heart racing. His mind also was racing, thinking trying to figure a way out of, out of…what he had done. He was a tangled knot of emotions. Angry, sad, fearful, defiant, happy, confused and dazed. Into that fog came the voice he had heard just an hour or so ago.

The day had finally arrived for their Harvest Offering. At the end of the season, the family brought together offerings to the Lord to thank Him for the bounty that He had provided for them. Each member of the family brought the best of what their labors had produced. Adam and Eve both brought their offerings first. Then it was the boy’s turn.

Cain hurriedly brought a basket overflowing with items that he had grown this season. Each one had been selected with care. Adam noticed that, even though the basket was overflowing, the produce was among the ripest, very ripe. Some were almost beyond use. He also noticed that the basket was one size smaller than last year. He was not pleased with what his son had done and decided that he would talk to him about it after the ceremony. His oldest son was quickly done with his portion of their ceremony and backed away from the altar.

Abel’s gift was from the best of his youngest lambs. They were without blemish of any sort. Some of them had already been sacrificially killed to prepare for this offering. He slowly and carefully placed them on the altar, along with the choicest fat. He took his time, making sure that everything was just so. He seemed to be talking to himself as he was working at the altar. When he was done, he bowed his head down low and backed away slowly.

Adam approached the altar slowly. He carried with him a torch and lit the wood that had been carefully arranged on the altar and the offerings were consumed. Almost. After the flames had leaped high into the sky and the smoke curled up toward the heavens, there was one item left on the altar that was left mostly untouched by the flames. It was Cain’s basket.

The rest of the family looked first at the basket and then at Cain in disbelief. Cain stared at the basket. His eyes then dropped to the ground. He then turned and ran toward his fields as fast as he could go. Eve started to go after him, but Adam held her back. “He needs to sort this out for himself, Eve. This is between him and the Lord.” Adam said.

Eve turned to her husband, looked into his eyes, and said, “Adam, what happened? Why was his basket not burned with the rest?” Adam responded, “Sweetheart, did you look at that basket? It’s smaller than last year and the produce was all past the peak of ripeness. He didn’t offer the Lord his best and the Lord rejected his offering. He needs to look into his own heart and be honest with the Lord about his motivations and his heart.”

“But, Adam, did you see his face. I have never seen him look so hurt and rejected before. His pride was severely damaged here. I’m really worried about him.” Eve countered. Adam responded, “I think that maybe his pride may have been the issue. It needs to be taken down some. This will be good for him. It’s a lesson he needs to learn. He’s just doing it the hard way.”

Eve looked at her husband and said, “Adam, I don’t see anything wrong with taking pride in who you are or what you do. I’m going to talk to him. I can bring him around. I always have.” Adam took her gently into his arms and said, “At least wait until he comes home for dinner tonight. He’ll have calmed down by then.” “All right, I’ll wait,” she said and nestled into his embrace. Adam looked around for Abel and saw him walking off in the same direction that his brother had run and thought that maybe a brother-to-brother talk was long overdue. Maybe Abel could reach his brother in a way that he had not been able to lately. He turned toward the house with Eve by his side and, together, they walked home.

Abel knew just where to look. Cain always went to the same place when things were tough and confusing. The two boys had spent a lot of time there together when they were little. It was a rock overlooking the river and shaded by a number of trees. Abel headed out across the fields toward the river in search of his brother.

A long time ago, far, far away, back during the time when people were pretty new on this earth, there were two brothers. They were, in fact, the only two brothers that had ever lived up until that time…and they were adored by their parents.

Both Adam and Eve were overjoyed with the birth of each one, but the first one had been something special, especially to the mother. Eve was so pleased when Cain was born that she proclaimed that she had gotten a man from the Lord! He was hers! She was so…proud, of herself and of him. Always. Not much later, the second son was born. His name was Abel. Eve was very excited about Abel too, but…it just wasn’t the same as it was with Cain. Adam saw this and tried to focus more of his attention on Abel. They became very close as he grew to manhood.

The two boys seemed oblivious to what was going on with their parents. They were the best of friends. They did everything together. While Eve doted on Cain, Adam spent time with both of the boys. He worked with Cain in the fields and with Abel as he cared for the livestock, especially the sheep. Gradually, as they grew older, the boys took over the tasks on their own. Eve was full of pride for her little family.

Life was good.

Until…

“Abel! You and your sheep tramped through my fields! Again!! Can’t you control them? I have had to replant that whole lower field twice in the last two weeks.” Cain shouted and looked hard into his brother’s eyes.

“Cain, you know that you planted over the only path between my pastures and the river. How else am I supposed to get them to the water? We don’t really have much choice. Our sheep deserve water just as much as the crops. You planted that whole area and it would take most of a day to go around it. I chose a path for them that would affect the crops the least. You should be grateful for that.” Abel replied (as calmly as he could, looking straight back into his brother’s eyes).

Cain returned the stare. The veins on his forehead and neck began to swell, he slowly balled up both of his large hands into fists so tight that his knuckles were turning white and then turned quickly and walked away muttering oaths in his anger. Abel watched his brother walk away with great sadness in his heart.

The two brothers were much like twins in stature. They were both young, muscular and bronzed from the sun. Even though Cain was the older of the two, but you could not tell it from looking at them. In temperament, however, they could not have been more different. Abel was calm, measured and even tempered. Cain, on the other hand, was impatient, often unsatisfied with life in general and occasionally given to fits of violent temper. Working the ground to grow their food was not the easiest job. He often resented it. He resented his brother having only to tend the sheep & other livestock.

Their father had decided that this fall, they would each make an offering to the Lord. The offering was to give thanks for the food, the land, the sheep and all that they had.

Adam did not often speak of the time before the boys were born. The time in the Garden. When he did speak of it, there was a heavy sadness and melancholy in his voice. There seemed to be a great burden of regret.

He did, however, take great joy in his two sons and loved them deeply. And so, it hurt him deeply to see them face each other off like that. He wanted to step in. He wanted to take them both in his arms and, and… Well, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to yell at them, hug them or just knock their heads together. He just wasn’t sure what to do. He suddenly missed the cool, evening walks with the Lord. He yearned for them. His regret again seemed to wash over him and threatened to overwhelm him. He, too, turned and headed off. He was going to find Eve. Perhaps she knew how long this had been going on between the two boys.

Sometimes teaching the Bible to small children can be as humorous as it is rewarding. Picture, if you will, one veteran Sunday School teacher teaching the story of creation with a group of early elementary students. In this group, there is one particularly precocious student who is the youngest son of the pastor.

“Hey guys, remember we were going to start going through all the stories in the Bible? Well, today is the day we are going to start. We’ll be talking about how God created everything. The Bible tells us that it took God seven days to create the whole world. Today, we are just going to talk about the first day….”

Stanley interrupts, “Whoa! Mr. Mathisen, do you mean God created everything? Are you sure you mean absolutely, completely, positively, everything in the universe, EVERYTHING? They told us in school that it might have been something called a big boom or bang or something.”

“Yes, Stanley, I mean everything. If we look in the Bible in Genesis Chapter One, we can read all about it.

“It says here that: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.”

“Whoa!! What does that formless mass stuff mean? It sounds like what I get when I play with Play-Doh.”

“Well, Stanley, you’re not too far off. Let’s imagine for a minute with our eyes closed that we are floating in the air except that it is totally dark and there is nothing there at all. Then God creates something, but He hasn’t given it any shape yet. It’s just a blob like your Play-Doh. Only you can’t see it because there is no light. God hasn’t created that part yet. So there you are, floating in empty space with nothing but a blob of Play-Doh. Oh yes, it also says that the Spirit of God is there with you. So you’re not all alone. Just like today when we are never alone because when we have Jesus in our hearts, He is always with us. Isn’t that fantastic, Stanley…Stanley…(louder) Stanley!”

Stanley, coming back to earth, “Oops sorry, I was having fun floating with God’s Spirit.”

“OK, Stanley. Let’s go on. So the next part says, “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.””

“Ooh, ooh,” injected Stanley, “we had a lamp like that once. All you had to do was clap your hands or make a loud noise, and the light came on. It was so cool!”

“I’m sure it was Stanley, but God didn’t have a lamp or electricity to plug it into or anything. The only thing that God used was His Word. The only other thing there was the blob and His Spirit.”

“And me, remember I’m floating there.”

“That’s right, and now you can see because God created light.”

“Right!! WOW! How cool!”

“Now let’s see, what comes next? Oh yes. “And God saw that it was good.” This is important because we need to remember that everything that God creates is good. We can use the good things that God created for sinful purposes.”

“Do you mean like a rock or my baseball. I can use it to play catch with but not to throw it at my sister?”

“Exactly Stanley. When you play catch with it, it is being used for good. When you do something bad with it, you are using it for evil. That is one of the choices that we get to make every day. Anyway, let’s get back to the story.”

“That would be good, right?”

“Right, now, where did we leave the story? Oh yes, God created the light and called it good. Next, we have: “Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Together these made up one day.” Let’s just imagine watching God take all of the light and moving it to one side so that the light and darkness are not mixed up.”

“That’s not what I do with my Play-Doh. It gets all mixed up and looks ugly after awhile. I can’t separate it anymore. I just throw it away.”

“That’s part of what makes God so wonderful Stanley. He can do things that you and I cannot do. But we can also see here that created the first day separated it from the night, and that was His work for the first day.”

“What happens next? This is a pretty interesting story.”

“That’s all for this week. Make sure that you read the story at home and come back next week for the second day.”